Scroll strip and method of forming same



April 4, 1944.

P.. E. PEARSON 2,345,882

SCROLL STRIP AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME Filed Sept. 27, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l MAM/1 5 April 4, 1944. PEARSON 2,345,882

SCROLL STRIP AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME Filed Sept. 27, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 4, 1944 I UNITED STATES PATENT FFlCE 2,345,882 SCROLL STRIP AND IETHOD OF FORMING Paul E. Pearson, Chicago, Ill, alfllnol' 0ontinental Can Company corporation of New Y 0.41m, New Yon-N. 2., a

Application September 27, 1941,- Serial No. 412,635

cutting can ends from the strips and properly die shaping the same. An example of this practice is illustrated in the copending application for U. S. Letters Patent, Serial No. 399,548, filed by Paul E. Pearson and Alexander A. Trombly on June 24, 1941, now Patent 2,305,191, issued December 15, 1942. The strips utilized in this common practice take various forms and much unnecessary wastage of metal is occasioned because of the lack of ingenuity in forming these strips.

scams. (or. lfli-i-l'll Another object of the invention is to provide a. method 01. the character stated in which the angularly formed cuts are in the form of a wavy or scroll line preferably composed of individual straight line portions, said lines conforming generally to the shape of the row of punch cuts to be iormed so as to provide a minimum of wastage of metal along the edges of the strip,

Another object of the invention is to provide a. method of the character statedlnwhich edge portions'of the coil strip or web are notched so as to form end portions of the individual stripswhich will bear-right angular relation to generally parallel longitudinal edge portions of said strips, thereby to provide right angular abutment edge portions for engagement with positioning gages during the punching of can ends from said strips.

Anothen object of the invention is to provide a novel form of scroll strip comprising scroll line When strips having parallel line side edges and ends bearing right angular relation to said side edges are used much unnecessary wastage of metal is occasioned because of the provision of the straight line side edges, and this is particularly true when the strips are fed to punches so placed that the holes formed by removal of the end closure blanks are arranged in multiple rows with the centers of holes aligned in longitudinal and vertical rows. This particular arrangement provides much unnecessary wastage of metal between the rows of openings. In order to minimize this wastage of metal between the rows, the openings in the respective rows have been staggered so that each hole center in a given row is centered between two hole centers in an adjacent row, but

. with this arrangement much unnecessary wastage of metal is occasioned because of the necessity of spacing at least one opening a, considerable distance from the end of the strip at each end thereof. It is the purpose of the present invention to provide a novel form of strip and a novel method of cutting the same from a continuous coil strip or web which will eliminate this unnecessary wastage of metal.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a novel method of cutting scroll strips from a continuous coil strip or web by formingparallel scroll line cuts across said coil strip or web at an acute angle to a longitudinal edge thereof, said angle being determined by a line longitudinal. edges which are generally parallel, and end edges disposedin angular relation to said I side edges.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel form of scrollstrip of the character stated in which at least one end edge is equipped with a abutting edge bearing right angular relation to the generally parallel side edges.

With the above and other objects in view which will more fullyappear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by following thedescription, the appended claims, and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 7 v I In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating the leading end portion of a continuous web or coil strip of sheet metal from which scroll strips are to be cut.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 illustrating the initial cut in the coil strip or web, the severed end portion being shown as separated from said web.

Figure 3is a view similar to Figure 1 and illustrates the completion of a scroll strip by the formation of parallel scroll line cuts across the web at an acute angle to the longitudinal edges thereof, the completed strip being shown separated from the end of the web, a succession passing through the centers of the can ends to be cut from the individual scroll strips in row relation.

of intended angular cuts across the web for the purpose ofiorming additional scroll strips being indicated by heavy dot and dash lines, and

the positions of the intended punch holes in said fiigips being indicated in light dot and dash Figure 4 is a detail plan view illustrating a completed scroll strip disposed in the position in which it is fed through a press and having the full complement of can end blanks punched therefrom.

In the example of embodiment of the invention herein illustrated, the coil strip or web from which the individual scroll strips are cut is designated 5. The coil strip is so called because this continuous length or web of sheet metal is to b fed to the cutting devices from a coil or roll. The present invention relates to the coil strip as an article of manufacture and to the method of forming the same, and the present invention is not concerned with any particular form of cutting mechanism or feedingmechanism. it is to be understood that the web feeding mechanism may take any acceptable form, and the parallel, angularly disposed cuts across the web, formed in the manner hereinbefore stated, may be formed by rotary or reciprocating cutting elements of any acceptable design.

The lead end of the coil strip or web 5 is indicated at 6, and the broken line I is intended to indicate that the length of the coil strip or web is indeterminate. Webs of 1000 ft. are found acceptable. The lateral edges 8 of the web are disposed in parallel relation and in the direction in which the web is fed, step-by-step,to the cuttin devices.

As shown in Figure 4, the individual punch cuts 9 are staggered so that each center III of a punch hole in one row will be centered between two punch hole centers In in the adjacent row, and it will be noted also that the centers of these openings, in a given row, are disposed in a common line. The line of centers in one row is designated II, and the line of centers in the adjacent row'is indicated at I2. By staggering the punch centers the punch openings 9 of the respective rows can be overlapped as indicated by the lines l3, thereby to minimize the amount of metal scrap intervening individual punch openings 9. While the scroll strips herein illustrated have their longitudinal edge portions spaced so as to accommodate only two rows of punch openings, it is to be understood that the scroll strips can be dimensioned to accommodate a greater number of such rows. It will also be noted that the amount of scrap metal intervening the nearest portions of adjacent punch openings 9 is very narrow, as indicated at M. It has been found that only 0.35 inch of metal scrap need be left between these openings.

In forming the novel scroll strip structures, wavy or scroll lines l5 are formed in generally parallel relation across the coil strip or web 5 in the manner illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings. These scroll lines l5 are cut successively by any approved cutting edge, the first of these cuts being made very close to the end i of the web in the manner illusrated in Figposing edges or abutmentsengaging during the cutting of the scroll strips from the coil strip or web with positioning stops such as are employed in the scroll strip cutting apparatus disclosed in my copending application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 423,385, filed December 17, 1941, now Patent 2,314,367, issued March 23, 1943. It will be noted that th cross cuts are made so as to place the center lines II and I 2 on an acute angle with relation to the side edges 8 of the web, and it will be noted by reference tov Figure 3 of the drawings that a line I! drawn through the centers ID of adjacent cuts in'alternate rows intended to be made in a given strip will!) be disposed parallel the side edges 8 of the we Edge notches I8 are formed ,in the side edges 8 of the web, two suchnotches being formed in each scroll strip. It is'preferred that these edge notches l8 be formed simultaneously with the cutting of each wavy or scroll line IS, IS, and it will be noted that the notches are so formed as to provide abutment edge portions l9'bearing right angular or perpendicular relation to the generally parallel side edges of the-individual scroll strips. These edge portions I9 serve as end abutments for accurately engaging stop gages which serve to place the scroll strips relative to the punches when the punch cuts 9 are being formed therein. In other words, the abutment end edges l9 are disposed in right angular relation to the direction of feed of the scroll strips through a punch press,

It will be obvious that the formation of each angularly disposed wavy or scroll line out l5, l6 across the continuous coil strip or web 5 simultaneously forms the finishing edge of or completes the cutting of one scroll strip and the starting line or edge cut of the scroll strip next to be cut.

It will be apparent that in the improved scroll strip formed by the method herein disclosed, an absolute minimum of metal wastage is provided because a minimum of metal intervenes the individual cuts 9 and is disposed along each lateral edge of the strip, and the diagonal position of each end edge of the scroll strip avoids the provision of waste metal at the strip ends. Also, the notches formed in the ends of the strip serve to provide true edge portions for abutting the gage stops which serve to accurately place the punch cuts in the scroll strip as it is being fed through a punch press.

ure 2 so as to provide a triangular shaped waste piece of minimum size as indicated at the right of said Figure-2. The scroll line l5 conforms generally to the shape of the row of punches 9 I I claim:

1. The method of forming scroll strips from which can ends may be cut and die-shaped, which consists in cutting successive scroll strips from a coil strip or sheet metal web by making parallel scroll lin cuts thereacross at an acute angle to a longitudinal edge of said coil strip or web, which angle is determined by a line passing through the centers of the can ends to be cut from the individual scroll strips in row relation, and simultaneously cutting out portions of the waste material at the ends of the scroll-strips thus formed so as to provide end edge portions which are at'right angles to the longitudinal center lines of the individual scroll strips.

2. The method of forming scroll strips from which can ends may be cut and die-shaped, which consists in cutting successive scroll strips from a coil strip or sheet metal web by making individual successively formed parallel scroll line cuts thereacross at an acute angle to a longitudinal edge of said coil strip or web, which are at right angles to the longitudinal center lines oi the individual scroll strips.

3. A scroll strip comprising scroll line side edges generally parallel, and end edges disposed in acute angular relation to said side edges, at least one said end edge having a notch formed therein and presenting a gage stop opposing edge bearing right angular relation to said side edges.

4. The method oi'iorming scroll strips from which can ends may be cut and die-shaped, which consists in cutting successive scroll strips from a coil strip or sheet metal web by making parallel scroll line cuts thereacross at an acute angle to a longitudinal edge of said coil strip or web, which angle is determined by a line passing through th centers of the can ends to be cut from the individual scroll strips in row rela-' tion, each said scroll line cut constituting a wavy line composed of a multiple of connected straight edges and conforming generally to the outline to be defined by an adjacent row 01' can end punch holes to be formed in the respective scroll strip in individual closely spaced relation, certain of said connected straight edges being disposed to bear right angular relation to a longitudinal edge of said coil strip or web thereby to form gauge stop opposing edges and other of said straight edges at opposite side edges of each formed scroll strip bearing parallel relation to each other and to the longitudinal center of said formed scroll strip so as to provide straight edge scroll strip edge guide portions.

5. The method of forming scroll stripsirom which can ends may be cut and die-shaped, which consists in cutting successive scroll strips from a coil strip or sheet metal web by making parallel scroll line cuts thereacross at an acute angle to a longitudinal edge of said coil strip or web, which angle is determined by a line passing through the centers of the can ends to be cut from the individual scroll strips in row relation, and simultaneously cutting out portions of the waste material at the ends or the scroll strips thus formed so as to provide abutment notch edge portions disposed to be directed endwise of the formed scroll strips.

PAUL E. PEARSON. 

